I bought the Scapple application pretty much as soon as it came out. I needed more help with organizing my outlining process, because up until this point, I was writing random plot points in a text file in Scrivener, which wasn’t doing much to help me. I’ve discovered that seeing my plot points in a text file tends to drive up my anxiety. So, when Scapple came out, I eagerly purchased the program to help me with my outlining process.

When I first got Scapple, I developed a pretty simplistic method of organizing the plot points. Simplistic, but ultimately more complicated. Now, Scapple is mindmapping software, but I use it to organize the plot points I type up. Usually, I do this by determining all the pov characters and assigning a specific note design to each of them, then I proceed to go through and make plot points related to specific characters, tying them to each other with the connecting options available in Scapple (click on Mots example below for a larger image). What I end up is two to five columns of plot points that end up being a total mess.

But that method wouldn’t work for a project like my first Jodalur Investigative Division project, which is a mystery. This meant I had to develop a different method of entering the plot points. Ultimately, what I decided on was a more linear format. I follow the main plot instead of individual characters (click on JID1 example below for a larger image). These main plot points are connected by a solid line with an arrow on it, while the subpoints, which reveal information about the scene are connected by dotted lines without arrows.

This method has turned out to be much easier for me to keep track of. I like that I have everything I need for a particular plot point all in one spot. I think I’ll be using this method of mapping out my stories for all my projects.

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